228 offshore

[luckydude]

We have been looking for tuna, not getting them yet. My 228 is not an offshore boat but we have been going. 73 mile run back to the harbor today, it can be done, pick your days.

 

[Fishtales]

Agree, just have your safety gear.

 

[SeanC]

I consider my 228 an offshore boat. I started out with a 9ft punt and an ancient 4hp motor heading 2-3 mile offshore. Next a aluminium 15ft cc with a 40hp out to 20 miles. Then a 17ft aluminium cc with a 90hp out to 40miles. The only restriction for the 228 is range. Thinking of putting in the 56 gal aux tank. Fish mainly solo. Wear a self inflating life jacket with PLB attached and a Fell Marine MOB kill switch plus the usual safety equipment.

 

[Fishtales]

Your opinion may change a bit if you ever get caught in very nasty situation. I was coming back from the bank off MA and was heading into 8-10 conditions. I had the four of us inside the enclosure with water clearing the hard top over the boat into the cockpit. Was not a good ride or situation but we made it back without incident. The sea can be quite humbling at times and things could go sideways quick if we had mechanical failures.

 

[Sdfish]

I would consider your boat an offshore boat as well - just pick your days. I know our weather down south is way may predictable than your location, I take my 208 off shore routinely. Plus the upgrades you made to your pilot house make it so much more comfortable I am sure. Go get em!

 

[sturgstev]

I go to the pacific off northern Ca past the Golden Gate Bridge and pick the days. Always make sure there are no southerly winds for the afternoon forcasted. Also head offshore with the tide going out and visa versa comming in.

Have never had an incident but mother nature can change what is supposed to be a safe day out there.

 

[luckydude]

I consider my 228 an offshore boat. I started out with a 9ft punt and an ancient 4hp motor heading 2-3 mile offshore. Next a aluminium 15ft cc with a 40hp out to 20 miles. Then a 17ft aluminium cc with a 90hp out to 40miles. The only restriction for the 228 is range. Thinking of putting in the 56 gal aux tank. Fish mainly solo. Wear a self inflating life jacket with PLB attached and a Fell Marine MOB kill switch plus the usual safety equipment.

Range is an issue, on those days I have 22 extra gallons in gas cans.

Also, my buddy is a whiz at trimming thins for best mpg, We came in at 28mph getting 2.5-2.6 gpm. Regular miles, not nautical. The trics were engine trimmed all the way back, barely any tabs, and 3700rpm. And a very flat ocean.

 

[Sardinia306Canyon]

I captain my own fishing and scuba charter boats from 1999 to 2020 in Sardinia and Costa Rica and during this time got caught several times in white squalls or microbursts coming out of nothing. All of them in Sardinia but experienced often extremely snotty weather in the Gulf of Nicoya when easterly trade winds change a few degrees direction and get funnelled from the Central Valley down to Puntarenas where they blow like hell diagonally over the Gulf of Nicoya.

Not really a big issue on a 28ft+ boat other than get wet, really wet, but i would not like to have that being on my BW 23 Outrage or a similar size boat.

That made me being more careful than i already am.

Chris

 

[Seymour Flatwater]

..."It's not the weather that you go out in that matters. It's the weather that you come back in that matters"...

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

I take my 228 everywhere . Pick your days and watch the weather. If it looks iffy don't go. I routinely fish out of Florida's east coast and the Keys with it. It works well for our purposes. We travel up to 30-40 off. I have taken it to the Bahamas a couple times and the Dry Tortugas .

 

[SeanC]

Your opinion may change a bit if you ever get caught in very nasty situation. I was coming back from the bank off MA and was heading into 8-10 conditions. I had the four of us inside the enclosure with water clearing the hard top over the boat into the cockpit. Was not a good ride or situation but we made it back without incident. The sea can be quite humbling at times and things could go sideways quick if we had mechanical failures.

I have been caught out a few times. I headed out to the heavy tackle grounds about 40 miles out in the 17ft cc. The forecast was 15kn dropping to 5kn. Instead it picked up to 25-30kn. Was a slow wet trip but never felt unsafe.

 

[Fishtales]

Yes agree, in the vast majority of the time it works out this way. What happens if the engine quits and your aft into the waves. All I'm stressing is things can and do change fast on the water, you need sufficient rode and scope for the depth you are in and the right safety and communication gear.

 

[Ryhlick]

I run my 228 regularly 50+ miles offshore chasing albacore out of Garibaldi or Illwaco. They are an amazing small boat that will handle way more than I would ever want to. That being said, I pick my days and I carry a life raft, epirb, survival suits, plb's, and all the other necessary safety equipment. I also have a 9.9 kicker in the event of engine failure, so I am confident with my choices and if things were to go bad, we would be picked up fairly soon.